Miles From Home (23 page)

“Okay, Maggie.” I speak in a strong tone to let her know I’m serious about this. “I’ll let you call the shots on this one, but in the morning if you’re not feeling or looking better, I will take you to the ER. Understand?” She nods her head slowly but never looks at me. Once we’ve unpacked and gotten Ellie into bed, I lie down and pull Maggie against me. “Why are you so stubborn?” I ask, kissing her neck. She turns to look at me, and I can tell she’s been crying.

“I’m scared, Sam. I watched my mother wither away before my eyes and it was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever experienced. How can I put Ellie through that?” I pull back and look at her.

“Maggie, how can you say that? You don’t know if that’s what will happen. I don’t ever want you to talk like that again!” She closes her eyes and holds me tightly as we both drift off to sleep.

The next morning I wake up in an empty bed. I can hear dishes clanging around downstairs and Ellie’s voice. I pull on my sweatpants and a t-shirt before walking downstairs to find Maggie standing at the stove, making scrambled eggs.

“Good morning,” I say, lightly brushing my hand across Maggie’s butt as I walk by.

“Good morning,” she replies, with a forced smile. She thinks she has me fooled, but I know this is just a way of making me believe she’s feeling better. I lean over and kiss Ellie as I sit down at the table.

“Hey, pumpkin. Are you having scrambled eggs this morning?” I ask. “Or are those Mommy’s?” I see Maggie relax her shoulders as she lets out a loud huff.

“These are for Ellie. I’m having cereal.” She slams the cabinet door after retrieving a box of Cheerios.

I can feel the tension in the air.
This is going to be an interesting day.
I attempt to help Maggie do some much-needed laundry, but she continues to give me the cold shoulder.

“Hey.” When she walks by, I grab her by the waist and pull her to me. “Don’t be mad at me. If I didn’t love you so much I wouldn’t be so concerned.”

She turns to look away from me. “Stop, Sam, I need to finish.” She pushes my arms away and I follow her upstairs

“Maggie, I’m going to hire a housekeeper.” She stops and turns around slowly.

“Do you think I’m not capable of taking care of things?” She walks slowly towards me. “Are you saying I’m not doing what needs to be done?” Maggie pushes me slightly to make her point.

“Oh, come on. Did those words even come out of my mouth?” I turn and walk into the bedroom and she follows me. I can tell she’s not happy with my idea.

“I’m not sure moving in here was such a good idea.” She walks into the closet, and I watch her grab a bag off the top shelf, stuffing it with clothes.

I grab the bag. “Oh no, you’re not.” I throw the bag on the bed. “You’re not doing this to me. Don’t you make me out to be the bad guy.” I turn and close the door so our loud voices don’t scare Ellie. She sits on the bed and slumps her shoulders as though she’s been defeated, so I kneel in front of her. “Please, Maggie, don’t ever say moving in was a bad idea.” I lay my head in her lap, and she slowly caresses my hair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t want to move out, I won’t move out.” She leans down and kisses the top of my head, and for the rest of the day, she is quiet.

As I lie awake and watch Maggie sleep, I make the decision that I’ve been thinking about for several weeks now. I’m going to ask Maggie to marry me. I’m sure it won’t be a big surprise to her. I can’t imagine my life without her, and my main purpose in life is to take care of her and Ellie. The next morning I shower and hurry downstairs, seeing Maggie and Ellie having breakfast on the patio. I open the patio door and stick my head out.

“There are my favorite girls!” Ellie runs and wraps her arms around me, kissing my cheek.

“Hey, I have to run a few errands. I’ll be back by lunch.” Maggie smiles and shoos me away.

My first stop is Aunt Virginia’s. I’ll need her opinion on just how I should go about proposing, because I want it to be perfect, not cliché.’ I have an idea of how I would like to do it, I just need Aunt Virginia’s help to make it happen. Two hours later Aunt Virginia and I have all the details worked out. We decide since Maggie loves the beach, Hilton Head would be the perfect spot. I find a bed-and-breakfast that can arrange everything: DeSoto Beach Bed & Breakfast on Tybee Island. Before I leave Aunt Virginia’s, she assures me that she will take care of telling them everything I want. Driving through downtown Savannah, I spot the jewelers that Maggie’s aunt has recommended and as I walk through glancing into the cases, I feel a tremendous amount of pressure to find the perfect ring. I point out several unique styles to the saleslady, and although they are all beautiful, they could never match Maggie’s beauty.

I finally decide on a simple one-carat diamond solitaire with a matching band that has three quarter-carat stones; Amethyst for Ellie’s birthstone, Peridot for Maggie’s birthstone, and a Ruby for my birthstone. As I’m getting into my car I hear someone yelling my name, and when I turn, I see Josh walking towards me.

“Hey, Sam. I thought that was you,” he says. He extends his hand to me and we shake.

“How are you, Josh?” I can feel the awkwardness as we stand on the sidewalk.

“I’m great, just working long hours and staying busy,” he replies. I notice Josh hesitating as we make small talk. I know what he wants to know, but he’s not sure how to ask, so I save him the trouble.

“She’s good, Josh. The chemo has been rough on her but she’ll get through it.” He nods and looks down.

“And Ellie?” he asks.

“Ellie is great. She’ll be five in a few months and she’s constantly on the go.” He points to the small bag.

“Shopping for jewelry?” he asks.

I raise the bag. “Yeah, something for Maggie.” I smile and he nods, as though he knows there’s a ring in it.

“Good, she deserves it. Listen, I’ll see ya around, okay?”

I smile and wave, opening the car door. “See you later, Josh.”

I stash the small bag in the glove compartment and drive towards the house, and while I’m driving, I work out the details in my head of how to go about convincing Maggie to go away for the weekend. Tybee Island is only a forty-five minute drive from here. I don’t want to be too far away in case Maggie isn’t feeling well, but it will have to be this weekend since her next chemo treatment is the following week. Pulling into the driveway and turning off the car, I take a steeling breath and go into the house. Maggie and Ellie are curled up on the sofa watching a Disney movie:
Tangled.
Maggie says it’s Ellie’s favorite movie, but I know the truth. Maggie loves that movie and she’s always talking about the lighted lanterns that float through the village and how she would love to see what they would really look like floating against the dark sky.

“Ahh, Maggie’s watching her favorite movie,” I tease.

“You know it’s Ellie’s favorite movie!” she exclaims.

I wink her way. “I know, she tells me all the time.” I squeeze in with them on the sofa.

Ellie raises her head and smiles. “Mommy and I want pizza for dinner.”

Maggie turns and smiles at me. “Pizza it is!” I exclaim, and we all finish watching Maggie’s favorite movie.

Ellie eats her weight in pizza, and of course the minute she’s strapped in the car, she falls fast asleep. I tiptoe upstairs as I carry her to her bed and after we both tuck her in and say our goodnights, I grab Maggie, throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her into our bedroom. I gently lay her back onto the bed and I lean over her, staring into her eyes. I can see the want in them and I’m sure she can see the need in mine.

I lean down and softly kiss her, starting with her forehead and working down to her navel. She sits up and pulls her shirt over her head while I undo her pink lacy bra. She giggles as I hook my fingers in the waistband of her pants and pull them off. Maggie laughs and tries scoot away, but I grab her ankles and pull her to the edge of the bed.

“Come here, I wanna make you feel good,” I say softly. She lies back and relaxes her legs open as I slowly tease her by kissing and licking up and down her inner thighs. She tries to wiggle her legs free, but I have a firm grip on both knees and I can tell she’s getting closer by her moans and the grip she has on my hair. I can feel her body relax completely as I lick and suck through her wetness. I swirl my tongue around and around when she starts to get louder.

“OH GOD, SAM! YES! Right there, don’t stop.” I smile, knowing that I can drive her to the edge at any minute, but I want to draw this out a little longer. I pull back and insert my finger deep inside of her.

“Maggie, you’re so wet. Come for me, baby. Let me feel you come.” I feel her legs tense as she throws her head back and screams my name. Suddenly she sits up and grabs my shirt, pulling it over my head as I’m unbuttoning my pants. Before I realize it, Maggie is on her knees in front of me desperately pulling my pants down.

“Hold on, Maggie. Let me get my pants off,” I say. But instead, she pushes me back onto the bed and wraps her mouth around me. I can barely catch my breath as she sucks and I know I’m not going to last long if she continues, so I reach down and pull her up.

“I don’t wanna come without being inside of you.” She leans down and kisses me as I slide into her and we move together. She grabs both of my wrists and pins them down over my head, but her nipple dangles close to my mouth, so I flick it with my tongue. She moves closer so I can pull it into my mouth. Maggie moves up and down, matching each thrust with mine, as I suck on each nipple and get closer to my release. I flip her over onto her stomach and she raises her ass in the air. I grab her hips and push as deep as I can.

Afterwards we both collapse on the bed, trying to catch our breath and I reach over to pull her closer to me. I can feel her breathing getting slower as she presses her cheek against my chest.

“I wanna go somewhere this weekend, just the two of us,” I say softly, brushing my hand up and down her back.

“Where do you want to go?” she asks.

“There’s a bed-and-breakfast on Tybee Island. I want to take you there.” Maggie looks up at me.

“Does it have to be this weekend?” she asks.

I squeeze her tight and whisper, “Yes, this weekend. No arguments.” She nods and I feel her relax as she falls asleep.

I’M STILL UNSURE why Sam has planned this weekend getaway, but I’m not going to complain since our last trip was cut short. Aunt Virginia has been so good to us, I hate asking her to take Ellie for the weekend, but Ellie loves staying with her. As I stand in the doorway watching my aunt pull into the driveway, Ellie pushes past me and runs towards her as she gets out of the car. I smile as Aunt Virginia wraps her arms around Ellie and kisses her.

“Do you have everything packed?” she asks, kneeling down.

“Yes, Aunt Vi, I’m ready!” Ellie exclaims, pulling her towards the car.

I grab her bag off the step and carry it to the car. “Hi, Aunt Virginia,” I say, hugging her. She pulls back and looks at me from head to toe.

“Looks like you’ve gained some weight, sweetie. I knew Sam would take good care of you.” She winks and kisses my cheek and as they pull out of the driveway, I wave and blow a kiss to them. Then I turn to go back inside. I can hear the shower running as I get closer to the bedroom. I strip myself bare, stepping in behind him, and Sam grabs my arms as I wrap them around his waist.

“Maggie, we can’t right now. We need to get packed and on the road.”

I kiss his shoulder. “I’m all packed. Besides, it’s only a forty-five minute drive,” I plead.

Sam turns and takes my face in his hands. “I promise to make it up to you tonight.” He kisses me softly.

Forty-five minutes later, Sam announces that he’s starving. I smile and nod, pulling into The Crab Shack. My stomach growls when the smell of fresh seafood hits me as soon as we walk in.

While Sam and I dig into a pile of crab legs that are spread out on our table, Sam keeps glancing at me as though he’s nervous about something.

“Okay, what’s up with you today?” I ask.

He looks at me with a guilty grin. “I’m just excited about being alone with you for an entire weekend, that’s all.” The smile on his face tells me there’s more he’s not telling me about.